ECONOMIC VAIJJK OF FUMIGATION 253 



scale, by a practical demonstration given by W. J. 

 Allen, government fruit expert, who at the same time 

 placed at my disposal a large amount of useful infor- 

 mation for my guidance at the start. The first diffi- 

 culty which presented itself was that of procuring 

 tents how many to get, what sizes, and where to get 

 them at a reasonable cost. Firms in Sydney asked a 

 price that was practically prohibitory. In my diffi- 

 culty I applied to Mr. Walter Bevan, of Galston, who 

 at this time was having his trees treated by this pro- 

 cess, and he it was who put me in the way of getting 

 them at a moderate figure. The least expensive 

 method is to buy the material at some wholesale house 

 and have it made up at home. For the purpose noth- 

 ing could be better than ' circus- tent calico, ' both for 

 lightness and durability. At present the wholesale 

 price is is. $/4d. per yard of 6 feet wide. 



' ' In my opinion no grower should bother with 

 tents, but have the material made into square sheets 

 the sizes he requires. They are easier to make than 

 tents, answer the same purpose exactly, and are much 

 more readily placed over the trees. The number to 

 get and the sizes will naturally depend on the trees 

 the grower has. I got four tents and two sheets, each 

 sheet being 40 x 40 feet, and with this number two 

 men can do from 30 to 50 trees each day. I began 

 fumigating about the end of January last, and instead 

 of doing the work at night, which is generally accepted 

 as the proper time, I did all mine by daylight. Orange 

 trees badly infested with scale, I found, lost a large 

 portion of their leaves, those with less scale a much 

 smaller quantity. Having the cyanide broken up too 



